Thank you
by la anjita
Summary: Just a short oneshot regrding the first bit of Harry's summer after the Order of the Phoenix and Duddy's dementor affair, keep that in mind here.


My first Harry Potter fic here, folks, so go easy on me.

Yeah, so this is a really short one-shot but…it's my first HP, like I said, so I get some leeway there.

Tell us what you think…please

**Thank you: A one-shot**

**By La Anjita**

There were black clouds forming in the already dark sky, the tell-tale signs of a loud and violent storm, and Harry pleaded for it to pass them by or, at least, wait until he'd dragged their luggage safely inside to take its vengeance on the neat suburban road.

The car was, as usual, silent but, this time, it was a different type of silence. Harry couldn't put his finger on it, but one thing he knew was that this silence was not the habitual united hatred directed towards him. In fact, Harry couldn't feel anything _like_ that in the general attitude here. What was even more unusual was that, when they had pulled into the finely paved driveway and opened the boot, along with his trunk, the only extra luggage he was obliged to carry was Hedwig's cage; the rest of the shopping there was divided equally between Petunia and Dudley as Vernon moved to open the front door.

There was no hatred in Petunia's eyes as Harry stood aside to let her and Dudley enter the door first as the first droplets of rain began to spatter the ground. It was a good thing, in hindsight, that Harry stood aside to let his aunt and cousin pass first because no sooner had they reached the cover of the canopy over the door that the sky decided to release its wet load in one deafening sheet of water. Within the space of two seconds Harry went from lightly spotted to _drenched_ to the _bone_ with icy water. Letting out an involuntary shiver he sighed and prepared to lug his trunk in and ignore the tongue-lashing that was waiting for him. Dudley's voice broke the – save the pounding of the rain – silence.

'Muuum. Harry.'

Harry winced. Oh great. He wasn't even in the house yet and Dudley was telling on him. He could just imagine the next scene:

_Harry Potter, how dare you do this to us? We carry the luggage to _try_ to be civil but _no_ you have to go and get soaking and muddy. Were you planning to track mud across _all_ the carpets? You inconsiderate – _

'Harry Potter!' His musings were stopped at the sound of his aunt's voice. _Here we go…_

'Harry, what on earth are you doing?'

He snapped his head up in shock to see his aunt gesturing quickly for him to get in. He lugged his trunk as fast as he could, trying to reduce the intensity of the imminent scolding. Then, a miracle happened.

'Dudley dear, help him. He'll catch his death of cold out there.'

He stared at her in complete shock. An emotion that soon turned into dumbfounded disbelief as Dudley waddled swiftly over, grabbed the other end of the trunk, and hauled it towards the door. Harry followed, the other end of the trunk carried in almost limp hands. His aunt was ushering them in quickly and looking around with sharp eyes. A tiny portion of Harry's heart dropped. _Of course, the neighbors have to see the care she gives to her children._

He lugged his trunk, with Dudley's help, into the house and the two deposited it in the hall, Dudley doing so strangely carefully.

His cousin disappeared, along with his aunt, into the kitchen. He heard the kettle boiling.

Sighing and shivering again, shoulders jerking with it, he turned and headed up the stairs to his room, grabbing a wad of clothes and heading to the bathroom to have a quick shower and change to fight the oncoming cold away. Just as his hand had touched the door and began to push it open Dudley's big and surprisingly strong, he noted absently, hand clasped him by the wrist. Before he could utter any sort of protest, he was being dragged swiftly down the stairs.

He was plonked unceremoniously into a chair facing the rest of his family. His fresh clothes lay forgotten upstairs and he shivered again.

And suddenly he was wrapped in a thick blue towel and had a mug of steaming cocoa in his paling hands.

He gaped up at his aunt. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

'Well. Drink up, you aren't getting any warmer by just sitting there.'

Tentatively, he raised the mug to his lips and took a sip, feeling the hot liquid warm his throat. He had to restrain a sigh. He glanced back up at his aunt; she wasn't looking at him. She was already bustling around preparing tea (and cocoa for Dudley) for the other three.

Harry curled up into the towel draped across his shoulders. He took another gulp of cocoa and smiled slightly to himself.

'Thank you.'

Yup, there you go. Gives us some love, guys and gals.

As always, thanks for reading, even if you didn't review, but it'd be really nice if you did. I don't get enough reviews, these days. My ego hasn't been patted in weeks.

Anyway, thankies.

--La Anjita


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